Computer guideline policy revised

Monday, Dec. 7, 1998 | noon

A new draft of the computer-use policy is expected to be released in mid-December by the University and Community College System of Nevada, and it attempts to allay fears expressed by civil libertarians and faculty members, said Jane Nichols, vice chancellor for academic affairs.

"This one might have a chance of being considered appropriate for a university and community college system and its faculty," Nichols said. "We hope we have made the changes that will make it acceptable. This is the fifth draft we have put together."

Earlier versions of the policy would have allowed computer system administrators nearly unfettered access to computer files if they suspected abuse. Some professors worried such access would threaten their privacy as well as that of individuals involved in sensitive research.

Barbara Brents, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas sociology professor studying Nevada's sex industry, called an earlier version "very vague and overly broad" and said there would be no way to guarantee confidentiality to her sources. She said she hopes to see changes in the next version that offer such guarantees.

Nichols, who declined to release a copy of the latest draft, said the next version will be shorter and simpler. The policy, she said, would allow access to personal computers by technology specialists only if technical problems occur, and by administrators only when regular personnel channels dictate such action. She said due process is built into the university system's personnel policies.

"We are not in the business of snooping or looking for things on a whim," she said.

Tony Townsend, a UNLV business professor who studies computer-use policies around the country, called the former versions "somewhat Draconian and very legalistic."

Earlier this spring, the paragraph that Townsend, Brents and Gary Peck, director of American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, found offensive was, "If unauthorized use of computer facilities is found, computer system administrators shall have the right to suspend or revoke computer privileges of the offending user. Computer system administrators have the right to access or examine files or accounts that are suspected of unauthorized use or misuse, or that have been corrupted or damaged."

Townsend said he already has seen vast improvements in an August version of the policy.

Nichols said she is committed to working with faculty members and the ACLU on a final version that balances First Amendment rights with the liability and management interests of the state's higher education system. The Board of Regents would vote on the policy in February or April, she said.

The university system has at least 20,000 users and no consistent computer-use policies. Nichols and university system attorneys said they need a computer-use policy to deal with problems including software piracy, illegal use of the Internet and abuse of the system's computers.